Palm Beach County teachers seek $500 raises and no furloughs

School district: Union counter-offer would cost $6.9 million

June 13, 2011|By Marc Freeman, Sun Sentinel

WEST PALM BEACH — The Palm Beach County teachers union on Monday dramatically lowered its request for pay hikes by requesting a $500 raise for all 12,000 teachers. The proposal also calls for no unpaid furloughs for any district employees.

It's a response to the School Board's recent offer either of no teacher raises with no furloughs for any employees; or a one-day furlough for most employees and raises for about 6,500 teachers — those in the first 10 years of employment only.

"We feel it's a compromise of both positions," Classroom Teachers Association President Kathi Gundlach told district negotiators, who will take it back to the board. "It gives all of our teachers a little money in their pockets."

The union asked for the $500 raise retroactive to May 1, and that it be the only salary increase for the just-concluded 2010-11 school year and the upcoming 2011-12 term.

Previously, union negotiators sought increases for all teachers, retroactive to Jan. 1, and more rounds of raises for most teachers on July 1, and Jan. 1, 2012. These would have been based on years of experience, called steps, which have not been provided since the 2007-08 school year.

But the district has said such a salary package would cost nearly $52 million, unaffordable at a time the system has been pummeled by a $35 million operating-budget shortfall caused by state funding cuts and rising costs.

"I appreciate the movement that was made," said district Labor Relations Director Van Ludy. "It shows you are as earnest in reaching a tentative agreement as we are."

Yet the union's counter-proposal still is more money than the School Board has so far authorized, Ludy said. Here's how:

The board agreed to set aside $8 million for the salary increases for the teachers on Level 1-10 on the experience scale. But the board also supported the one-day furlough for most of the district's 21,000 employees, including teachers, to save $5 million. That's a net cost of $3 million in next year's budget.

In comparison, the union's proposal — $500 raises and no furloughs — is roughly a $6.9 million expense or $3.9 million more than the board has approved, district Chief Financial Officer Michael Burke said.

Also, district officials said the union's proposed pay scale does not achieve the board's goal of putting the salaries of younger teachers more in line with those offered by Broward and Miami-Dade counties and other urban school systems in Florida.

The district's proposal would raise a beginning teacher's salary from $36,822 to $38,000. That's closer to the $39,000 starting salary in Broward and $38,500 in Miami-Dade. The union's new proposal puts starting teachers at $37,222.

"It is a proposal that meets more of your needs than ours," Ludy told the union's leaders.

But Tony Hernández, union interim executive director, said the board's offer of 2.3 percent to 3.2 percent raises for only half the teachers was divisive and unacceptable.

"All that is doing is pitting teacher against teacher," Hernández said, citing a stack of complaints in his email inbox. "The career teacher is saying, 'You've got to be kidding me.' "

The board may hold a closed-door session June 22 to discuss its bargaining position and whether to accept the union's latest offer, Burke said.

Granting the $500 raises could present problems for the School Board's dealings with its other employee unions, such as those representing district police officers, bus drivers and secretaries.

The board had offered no salary increases to those groups, which in the past have received similar raises provided to teachers and would expect nothing different this time.

"We would hope that the School Board treats all employees fairly," said Alphonso Mayfield, president of SEIU-Florida Public Services Union, whose union membership includes 4,200 drivers, custodians and other workers.

The board has said it supports the one-day employee furlough plan, which was recommended last month by Superintendent Bill Malone and a citizens budget advisory committee. The district would be closed on a day that students are off, such as a teacher planning day.

Officials said the furloughs would help to balance the district's $1.2 billion operating budget and prevent more job cuts than already are planned.

To date, 485 district employees have been told they may not have a job after the fiscal year ends on June 30. Layoffs likely would happen for those workers who are not placed in vacant district positions.

Palm Beach County teachers have received no pay increase since a 2 percent, across-the-board raise at the start of the 2008-09 school year. All teachers received one-time, $500 bonuses for the 2009-10 school year, which union leaders at the time labeled "an insult."